THE FOLLOWING SESSION FOLLOWS THE PUBLISHED 4TH EDITION ADVENTURE “TOMB OF HORRORS” AND WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. PLEASE AVOID THIS POST IF YOU WISH TO AVOID SPOILERS.

The party of six ends their short rest in the Dead Gods Tomb and continues to push forward. They take a nearby magic portal and it puts them in a strange room full of hulking metal constructs charging in to attack! Half the party is bashed to the ground by large shield-wielding guardians yet when an old friend crashes through a portal into the room for backup, the party manages to come out on top. Aetius has ignored Three’s advice that his head is too clouded to help here and returns to the party. “Your anger cannot overtake you or you doom our party, Aetius.” He agreed to keep a clean head yet he wanted revenge on the tomb.

The party sends Jinroy through a portal attached at the hip to a rope in case of emergencies. Suddenly the rope goes limp and the portal closes! They rushed around the tomb and with a stroke of luck find the right portal. Jinroy is surrounded by servants of Vecna and an aspect of Vecna as well. The party manages to save the day once again and free Jinroy from almost certain death. Pressing forward, the party ends up in the Shadowfell through some sort of planar crossover portal but being smart, they get the gem they are looking for and get out before being trapped. Expended of almost all powers and healing surges, the party wishes to take their extended rest yet Three demands one more room. “I have plenty left to heal you, my friends.”

The last room of the night pits the party against an aspect of Demogorgon and an aspect of Orcus. The fight gets ugly from the beginning with the players getting beaten around yet they manage to restrain the two aspects for a round or two. Stelian goes stealth and sneaks up behind Demogorgon. In a brilliant display, he leaps atop him, slashing in a fury. His action point allows him a second action in which he takes full advantage. On his way to the ground, Stelian delivers a deadly kill shot to Demogorgon by slicing clean through his heads. The party has no problem teaming up against the aspect of Orcus and finishes the fight quickly. An extended rest follows and the session comes to an end.

This session was a fun one. Props to Stelian (played by Mac) for his attack on Demogorgon. Stelian hit crit on a killer attack the put him atop the aspect and used his action point. The table lost it when he rolled crit again! In one round, Stelian dealt over 200 points of damage, killing the aspect.

We stuck to a shorter play time (7:30pm-1:30am). As a DM, the real challenge was in running a game for 7 players. That’s right, we had 7 players show up! The encounters were probably a bit too easy with their great numbers yet I did what I could to make it interesting. The portals say nothing about being able to be shut down but I figured that Jinroy could use some excitement. Everyone roleplayed quite well. The fights went very smooth this week due to a new strategy.

DM Tips

The new battle strategy is extremely simple. At the beginning of each round, the players shout to each other (while roleplaying) what they intend to do that round. That way everyone knows what everyone else is doing and things run smoother during the round. Example would look like this:

“Gauthak, what are we doing?” shouts Three.

“We take the big one! You go high, I go low!” Gauthak grins.

“I’ll fly to retrieve the gem!” shouts Lomian.

“Watch for me in the shadows, friends,” Stelian says with a smile.

“I’ll hold the perimeter for you, guys,” says Shadow.

“Shadow, I’ll cover you with a magic missile,” says Aetius.

“And I’ll bring down the front runner! With Vicious Mockery I shout at him, ‘Over here you bucket of rust!'” And with that, Jinroy starts the round of action.

I was skeptical when my player (Max) proposed this system but it worked out so well. Try it out in your games and as always bring your feedback here. Comments are appreciated and I promise to respond!

What is Dungeons & Dragons without roleplaying? A video game of the mind. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s examine. Assume that no roleplaying is allowed. You play Vengeance, a dragonborn warrior by choosing his actions and guiding him through an adventure. You have a set list of things you can do (powers, feats, rituals, etc.) and you execute them and wait for the consequence. To me, this sounds like the slight upgrade of a video game. (The upgrade being that your imagination does not have a special effects budget) “Vengeance uses breath weapon and deals the orc 24 points of damage.”

What is Dungeons & Dragons with roleplaying? An immersing experience that allows you to stretch your creativity and step out of your own shoes and into the game. Vengeance’s background now affects the game. Vengeance was a tiefling general, cast out by his own people for avenging his murdered family. He contracted a fatal disease but through a ritual and the sacrifice of a friend, Vengeance’s being was placed in the body of a recently-killed dragonborn warrior. Holy-roleplaying-opportunity, Batman! (This story actually happened in our campaign…)

Now you are conflicted! Now you are angry! You’re stuck inside the body of a race you despise yet your own race cast you out! Do you take advantage of this new body and get revenge? Do you accept your punishment and live out your life the best you can? These affect your every decision! Your game now has depth. Your game now has meaning. “Channeling my inner anger, I unleash this new breath weapon in a fury! The fire burns the orc for 24 damage. I step back, amazed at what this new body can do!”

Roll With It

I hope the above example illustrates just what roleplaying can do for you and your game. Not only will it bring out the fun, it will fix a lot of gaming problems. Meta-gaming is reduced, players that are in-character waste less time, and distractions are fewer. To truly add roleplaying depth, have your players each write a background for their character and imagine they went through that. How would it affect their decisions? The way they talk? The way they act?

Our campaign is run in a semi-created world known as…well, actually we do not have a name yet. But we’re working on that! The 4th Edition D&D campaign known as “Quest for Starfire” takes place in a world that includes some of the published D&D world. You can find remnants of Bael Turath as well as the Nentir Vale in the southeastern region of our world. The special portion of our map is of a region known as “Aestonia.” This is place, originally created by me but expanded upon by our gaming group. Most of the campaign takes place on this massive continent. I’ve created a map of what the place looks like as well as an interactive map on our Obsidian Portal (OP) campaign page (see the new button on the right for a direct link!)

Our shared creation

The map shown here is the main region of Aestonia. Most of the events occur near this area. Keep in mind that this map shows no cities, townships, kingdoms, etc. I like to add them on our OP page as we find them or create them. I’ve been inspired by countless DMs before me to begin world-building more and more. It creates a more connected and real world for the game. The fun part and the secret is this:

Involve your players!

Players who want to participate in world-building should be allowed to! Creative minds working together can create some memorable worlds for memorable campaigns. When the players are familiar with the world and they have put an effort in to help bring it to life, they become more involved during gameplay. Decisions impact them more and they feel the consequences of their actions. NPCs and places come to life! Treasures and stories are spread around and you actually bring life to your campaign and your world.

Assignments

I even dish out assignments to players who are interested. I have recently had Mac (who plays Stelian) bring to life Shadow’s (played by Cole) hometown by creating a story/history on it. Cole wanted a small northern town ruled by a tyrant lord to be where he was from. He called it Lysoria in his biography. I let Mac handle the rest. I told him to bring to life the tyrant lord and the culture of this northern town. Max (who plays Three) created an artifact sought after by his older character Baurus. Check out “Moradin’s Voice” on our OP Items tab. This is one of the coolest items I have ever seen. It brings to life the dwarven community and heritage of Baurus while creating a story that can be linked into future adventures.

Rewards

I deal out rewards for players who help create our world and add to it. I will hand out either XP, magic items, or smaller bonuses for a session based on how much they help build. Example: Max currently has a token for the Big Brother bonus. This allows him an immediate reaction to save a teammate who activates a trap from taking damage.

Building comes in the form of stories, people, places, races, magic items, maps, pictures, etc. Anything a player can dream up can help make a world more real. Explore our OP campaign pages via the cool new button on the right and feel free to use it as inspiration! Build, assign, reward, enjoy. Watch your campaign and world come to life through collective world building!

First off, I would like to share this link and let everyone know that a dungeon of mine was nominated and I am up for Acerak’s Apprentice in Chris Perkins’ weekly column. The voting ends tomorrow, I believe. Check it out here and vote:

I will not tell which is mine as I hope everyone votes for the dungeon they believe to be best. Now onto my content for the week…

This past week I learned a few lessons in running a D&D campaign. My campaign “A Quest for Starfire’s Gaze” has been running since December 2010. It’s a 4th edition campaign that started at level 1 and we are currently at level 22 and in the epic tier. We have begun the final dungeon in the 4th edition Tomb of Horrors adventure. (I will not post any spoilers, I promise!) Here are some quick lessons learned from our last session:

Keep D&D sessions to 5-6 hours at the maximum. We played for 11 hours at our last session for the first time ever. Players start to get pissy, roleplaying suffers, and as a DM…you drain yourself. More gets done and more fun is had in the shorter games.

Be careful when adding new players mid-campaign. Adding someone is always fun. We’ve only added one person between levels 1-22. This week we added 2 new PCs. Person A clashed with a current PC (which is no fair to either) and person B was a phenomenal player and roleplayer but he was so into it that he and person A also clashed (is there a pattern here with player A?)

Tornado warnings tend to interrupt games. As does extreme hail and funnel clouds visible from your window. Just know that.

Have plenty of space. Cramped play space is no fun. We had two huge tables put together and the room it allowed actually made the game more fun. Have plenty of space!

Have fun but stay focused and keep the game moving. You get more done, have more fun, and everything stays smooth when you focus on the task at hand and don’t waste time. Keep the game focused and keep it moving.

Use these to make your games better and don’t forget to go vote for Acerak’s Apprentice!!!

The party heads to the desert city of Maetrage to find the meaning of the drow in their shared dream. This is the only city known to be the home of several drow in the land. The group ends up at the Buka ‘Ukan, a coliseum-like structure that is home to the largest flea market/slave trade in the world. After helping a shop owner retrieve a local debt, the party outbids the local mafia (The Rising Fall) on an eladrin slave girl. They learn from her that the Cascades, a region with the wealthiest families in all of Aestonia, is under extreme tensions. In order to get to the Rising Fall, the players head to the mines (The Deepening Stalls) to find Larg Axeforged, a dwarf that is league with the group. They experience a strange sensation in the mines and also see the name Starfire on the list of people that entered the mines that day. Larg nearly defeats the group but they get past him and to the Rising Fall. They enter the throne room to find it a mess with a large broken window and the drow leader, Elkantar Mal’Een, horribly wounded. They convince him that they are not with Starfire and he sends them after the mysterious being to retrieve a stolen stone. They get onto a ship just in time to follow him to the Astral Sea. As they sail into the sky, an arrow with a message from Graster reveals that the Misty Kingdom is under attack from two fronts.

The Madness

Saturday, December 17th, 2011…$H*T WENT DOWN! This campaign hadn’t been played in over three months and the pressure had been building up. I decided to go all George R.R. Martin and make things crazy. The players have been chasing after “Starfire” for over a year (real time) and have nothing to show for it. Saturday, I practically had them run into the mysterious character. It turned into quite the chase and, as quoted by one of our veteran players, “One of the best D&D sessions [I] have ever played.”

The Knowledge

The session went well for 3 reasons and I believe all DMs can improve sessions by implementing these very reasons.

Last Minute Relaxation. I don’t know about you but I get very jacked up before a D&D session. This goes double for times where I write most of the adventure. Believe it or not, I actually get stressed out once in a while. I wonder if the session will live up to the hype I put behind it. Before Saturday’s session, I simply relaxed. We cleared the living room and set up 3 tables for the game. I had my own table and I must admit, having that much space really allowed me to spread my things out and relax. That put me in the zone.

Make $H*T Happen! I wrote the adventure during the two weeks prior to game night. I revised the adventure in the two nights prior to game night. What I had originally seemed to dull and too ordinary. I had a dungeon, some combat encounters, and some noncombat encounters. The story was interesting but not enough. In the last two days, I made it enough. I had plot twists around every corner. My characters were level 20 so I made different plot lines all merge and round out. They have been chasing clues long enough and I felt like it was time to throw the book at them. So I did and it paid off. It gave us one of the most memorable nights in D&D history.

Allowing Room For Change. I had the night go 90% the way I wanted it to story-wise. The characters met a dwarf forge-master named Larg Axeforged and tried to talk their way out of a fight but I was having none of it. Larg was a badass and strong as hell and he was going to prove that point. However, they arrived at the final battle of the night with almost no powers left, virtually no healing surges, and mentally drained. I was planning on fighting them to death or close to it. The cleric, Three, stepped forward and attempted to talk down the drow leader of the local mafia. I hadn’t planned on this leader being very diplomatic. The player had a nice soapbox and really put a point on how they were on the same side in the Starfire issue. I quickly evaluated the situation and realized the possibilities it gave me to let them live and keep the drow alive. Last minute, I allowed them past the drow and after Starfire. The drow left them with a threat and they moved on to the final chase scene of the night.

The relaxation gave me a cool head for a night of creative genius. The plot twists and crazy story left us the most memorable night of our campaign. Allowing the characters to change the course of the adventure let them feel like their effort truly let them effect things in our shared world. Everything clicked and the night went down perfectly. I hope many of your games to be as fun as this one. After all, if we don’t fully engage our imagination and draw out the fun, we are not giving Dungeons and Dragons a chance to be what it always has been.

A few months ago, I came up with an easy way to keep track of monster’s hit points during battles. I got sick and tired of just scratching notes and numbers on paper. It felt disorganized and it was a waste of paper. I have no problems writing stories and side notes in a notebook but pages full of numbers scratched out and all over the place felt like a waste.

I use Obsidian Portal (www.obsidianportal.com) for my campaign and notes. I prefer the high tech method of operations as I find it to be easy, organized, and I can’t lose it! So, I figure why not have a high tech method for hit points? And so it began. You need a spreadsheet program. The most common is Microsoft Excel. Spreadsheets can be confusing so I will make it as easy as I can for you and use pictures as well. Enjoy!

Open your spreadsheet program (easy enough, right?) Also, open a spreadsheet (or workbook) if it asks.

The program uses what are called “cells.” They are the boxes you see. Across the top, each column has a letter. Down the left side, each row has a number. So the top left cell would be “A1” Move to the right, you have cell “B1” and so on. Please click on cell “A1”. (The blue cell in the picture below.)

After that, you will type the name of the monster you are using. Click one cell to the right (B1) and here you can put the Armor Class of the monster for easy reference. (If you’d like, you can put the other defenses or any other info you need in the cells below these two..example: Fortitude and Reflex in cells A2 and B2)

After you have your monster name and defenses, let’s add a border to keep things neat. There should be a border button that allows you to add thin or thick black lines around each cell. Do that. Refer to the picture below to see the borders.

Every monster takes hits. The next cells are for recording these hits. Highlight cells A3 thru B10. Put an “outside border” on these cells. You should have a large, empty box now beneath your monster and his defenses.

The blue square will be where his remaining hit points are. Put a border around it if you’d like. To get his hit points to adjust automatically, we are going to put in a simple formula. Click on the blue square. Next you will need to find what is referred to usually as the “autosum” or “sum” button. It automatically adds up certain cells and gives the result in another cell. Do some research to locate your sum or autosum button. Click it while the blue square is highlighted. Next you are going to be asked to select the squares to add up. Click and drag on all the empty squares in our box. Press enter or return. The blue box should now show a “0” because there are no numbers to add.

The hard part is over. Now just put in hit points. Enter the total number of hit points in cell A3. When you press enter after this, the “0” in the blue square should automatically adjust to the number you just added. Your battle form is set and ready to use!

Let’s say your monster takes a hit. He takes 55 damage. You will enter this in cell A4. Here’s the trick. Put a minus sign (-) in front of it. So you would click on cell A4 and enter “-55”. This will subtract those points from the total in the blue square. Cool, huh? Keep doing it for all the hits the monster takes in the rest of our open cells A5 thru B10. When your hit point total (blue square above) reaches 0, the monster is dead! And (although it may be lazy) you didn’t have to do any math! The final product is in the picture below. Please ask if you have any questions I know this can be confusing. Once you get the hang of it though, it’s super easy and super organized.

Hope this can help some of you make your sessions easier. It sure makes mine a breeze. Just copy and paste one monster to the side. Change his name and stats if you need but it will keep the borders and the formula all set up!

A while back, my PCs found an ex-adventurer named Quinn Morlin. They offered a reward if he could help them get to Vor Rukoth. He told them the way and his “reward” was less than flattering. Three (the warforged cleric) offered “the blessings of his god” as the reward. Then they left Quinn at the bar and headed on their way. Big mistake.

On their journey through the desert, they took an extended rest. Mistake #2. Quinn had been following them and made off with their Bag of Holding while they rested. He left a note:

“No need for a bag of holding, my friends. The blessings of my god will be enough!

Yours truly,

Quinn”

Payback sucks. So fast forward to last night’s session. They wanted it back now. They’ve gone without it for a few months so they head after Quinn finally.

Journey to Nenlast

They learn in Hammerfast that Quinn usually resides in the city of Nenlast. A dwarf named Jarel Hammerthorn agrees to show them the way if they will guard his caravan which he is taking to Nenlast. They agree and meet Rendar, the half-orc fighter who is also guarding the caravan for some cash money. The first 10 miles is on the King’s Road. During this part of the journey, a wild storm arises over the road. A DC 20 Endurance check is required to not lose a healing surge.

Shortly after traveling about 10 miles north, you hear a growling and whimpering in the woods to the right of the road. If the PCs examine, read this: A wolf, dire wolf by the looks of it, is caught in a claw trap. It’s obvious that poachers are responsible. The wolf is not dead but in bad shape. It’s caught around his neck and he is bleeding profusely.
If Three chooses to heal the wolf, it becomes slightly attached to him (although not obedient yet). Three does indeed heal the wolf and takes care of it. He brings it along for the rest of the journey.

Nenlast

Towards midday, you reach the town of Nenlast. Nenlast sits on the shores of Lake Nen. The town is surrounded by high stone walls with a group of guards at the entrance.

The PCs are allowed in with Jarel and they head to Hawk Tavern. The sign on the door reads: “The Best Ale in the Nentir Vale!” They enter and Argarwane sees an old friend. It’s Jabar Gimmen! He led the resistance a few months back in Raywold that Argarwane was a part of. He asks him about Quinn. “I’ve seen me a man lookin just like the one you describe! But I know of no Quinn Morlin around these parts. Sorry old friend.”

The PCs decide to ask Jarel if he knows about an adventurer named Quinn. “Never heard of him. The only adventurer in these parts is Jaerys Foxstone. Everyone knows that! I’ll bet he’d know your friend Quinn if anyone would. I reckon you’ll find him in the sewers beneath Nenlast. Always complaining about an aboleth problem in the sewers is he. How else would ya know unless that’s where you spend your time? Hahahah.” They head to the sewers.

Nenlast Sewers

1. The sewers are ankle high in sludge and it often rises to knee high. Strangely, you notice gargoyles set into the corners of each room. It looks as if these weren’t always just sewers…you can hear splashing noises every few moments from the corridor straight ahead. The corridor to your left smells strongly of sulfur.

2. Two corridors exit this room. Two gargoyles have their eyes set upon the third who rests between the two corridors. He looks to be less perched like the others. This one…is on guard.

3. This hallway wraps around leading to the same room you just came from. A Perception DC 24 notices that one entire wall has VERY small cracks all over it. It could be weak. Inside this chamber rests the statue of a hero. An Arcana DC 22 recognizes the magic item, the “stone band” on his finger.

4. Thick clouds of sulfur spurt from the ground every few seconds in this chamber. The clouds are thick and appear at random. Refer to Sulfur Spewers Trap. When the first PC crosses the line in this room, monsters rise from the sludge and sulfur and attack!

A wooden door sits on the far wall. Gold hinges and hardware look out of place on this door set in the sewers.

Jaerys Foxstone’s Lair

1. This corridor leads to a small set of stairs. Atop the stairs are two doorways and two guards eyeing you curiously as you enter. The guards will ask the business of the adventurers. A skill challenge will allow the adventurers by. If they reveal a magic item to the guards, they are allowed to enter the door on the right. “If you can retrieve the magic item from beyond this door, you will be granted an audience with Jaerys Foxstone.” Perception DC 22 notices the gargoyles at the back end. Perception DC 27 notices the secret door.

You descend a staircase about 10 feet into a room dimly lit with torches. It resembles the sewers and the floor is covered in sewage and sludge to about ankle height. A lone, stone gargoyle watches over the room from the corner. Two doors are at the far end. When two characters have crossed the middle line, the Aboleth Overseer and 8 aboleth servitors arise from the ground. If anyone enters the corner by the gargoyle, he attacks. Otherwise he attacks during the 3rd round of combat. This encounter is worth 8800 XP

When the door has been open for one minute, it suddenly slams shut. The room is overcome by a magical darkness. One minute later, the door opens and any characters inside have lost one magic item.

This room has a pyramid structure in the middle of it that rises about 15 feet high. Atop it you can see a bright glowing statue of a phoenix. A golem steps out of the front stone wall and roars as six cyclops step out from behind the pyramid. An Athletics DC 25 is required to climb the pyramid on the steep sides. An Athletics DC 15 is required to climb either stairs. This encounter is worth 7400 XP Atop the pyramid is the glowing statue of a phoenix wearing a belt. The belt is the Phoenix Sash. The guards at the entrance will let the PCs pass if they show this item.

The two rooms in the hallway lead to empty barracks. Between the two rooms the PCs can find about 15,000 gp.The stairway descends into a large open room. Six men sit at a table playing dice and toying with strange items you are not familiar with. There are bookshelves and desks all around the room and hundreds of strange objects and paintings you have never seen before.
“Welcome gentlemen. And to what do I owe the honor of your company?” They wanted to find Quinn. “If you can defeat the great Jaerys Foxstone in combat, I shall indeed lead you to your fellow ‘Quinn’ friend. Gentlemen! Prepare for battle!”

Two human blade nobles, four archers, and Jaerys Foxstone attack! This encounter is worth 10,300 XP

His spell fades off when he’s defeated and it reveals Quinn. Quinn will give them back their bag of holding along with 5 gems worth 5000 gp each. He will also give them two gifts. The Essence of the Scout is the first. He also offers to inscribe a magical tattoo on someone. This is the Eager Hero’s Tattoo. Quinn also has a question for the group about a Starfire. He read a scroll in the bag of holding. He wishes to help them. He’s still capable of great adventures and tells them his next location so they can send him word when they need his help. The group actually invites Quinn along.

DM Input
My players actually mentioned that this was the most fun quest they have done so far. It’s funny since its kind of a side quest but I appreciated it since I wrote the entire thing. They loved the last fight. It’s fun when its a skill fight and not to the death. The nobles and Jaerys (Quinn) were extremely skilled bladesmen and the PCs felt like it was a challenge to their abilities rather than a fight for life.

The other great thing was that my players were down to almost no healing surges or daily powers by the last fight. It was actually very difficult for a while. All in all, fun night. Love it when that happens.